A House Is Not A Home
by WanderingPirate
Summary: Kurt and Finn are trying to get used to this whole "being brothers" thing. Sam Evans is trying to get used to this whole "being gay" thing. Eventual Sam/Kurt with oodles of Finn and Kurt bromance along the way.
1. Miles

(**A/N**: This is an idea that's been banging around in my head since the first episode of this season but I'm just now writing it. As of right now, I'm ignoring the episode Grilled Cheesus. They wrote Burt's coma scenes far too well and I don't even want to try to compare my writing with that so I'm pretending it didn't happen. So, assume everything that happened up until that episode is true for this fic as well. Sorry if some of the characters seem out of character. This is my first Glee fic and I'm still getting a feel for writing the characters.)

**Warnings**: mild cursing

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Glee or any of the wonderful songs I've quoted in this fic.

**A House is Not a Home**

**Chapter One- Miles**

Kurt couldn't stand this anymore. He really couldn't. Finn was up and down and uncomfortable and trying not to be but, being Finn, he was terrible at hiding his own awkwardness. Finn kept readjusting himself on his bed or getting up to pace a few seconds before sitting back down again and shooting nervous glances at Kurt. Kurt was lounging on his own bed, reading his English textbook and trying to ignore him, but was finding the constant creak of bed springs and completely transparent looks Finn kept sending his way to be infinitely distracting.

Eventually, Kurt sighed. Finn tensed up. For a moment, his face plainly displayed fear but then he quickly tried to cover it up. Of course, Finn could never quite master his own facial expressions so his attempt at nonchalance resembled constipation more than anything else.

"Finn, if you are really so uncomfortable with this arrangement, you need to tell your mom. She wouldn't want you sacrificing your own happiness for hers," Kurt tried not to make eye contact with Finn while he said this. Instead, he stared intently at his book and tried not to imagine what ridiculous face Finn was making now.

"Um…what?" Finn asked in a tone that was usually reserved for whenever Mr. Shue spoke in Spanish.

Glancing up, Kurt noticed Finn's face was nothing more than bemused at this point.

"You're clearly uncomfortable. You have been since you moved back in this morning. It's alright. I understand," Kurt tried as hard as he could to keep the hurt out of his voice and he thinks he may have even succeeded. Kurt himself was apprehensive about the Hudsons moving back into the house, especially since the addition wasn't done yet so Kurt and Finn were back to sharing a room again. But he had hoped that Finn would have gotten over their fight from before.

"I-I just…" Finn lost his train of thought. Kurt wasn't sure he'd ever had it to begin with.

"I get it," Kurt said softly and this time he knew there was a tremor in his voice that even Finn detected.

Finn shifted uncomfortably and still looked confused. "Get what?"

"I get that you don't want to share a room with me and its ok," Kurt said in a rush as if saying it faster would make it hurt less. "I'll talk to my dad. You should move out again until the addition is finished so you can have your own room."

"If that's the way you feel."

Kurt was about to say _No, that's clearly the way YOU feel_, but then he stopped. Finn was looking strangely…rejected.

"Finn? Is…are…what's with your face?" Kurt bit his bottom lip, feeling like he'd just been rude.

"I…don't know. Is there something wrong with my face?"

Kurt started to laugh. The look on Finn's face was priceless. Finn seemed like he wasn't sure how to take it but then apparently decided Kurt was laughing with him, not at him so he cracked an uncertain smile.

"I'm sorry," Kurt finally said, calming himself down, though there was still the hint of a smile on his face. "This is stupid. I think we need to talk."

"You don't want to live with me," Finn sighed. "After what I said."

"And you don't want to live with me," Kurt gave a bitter smile. "Not after what I did."

Finn looked like he wanted to disagree but he didn't say anything.

Kurt sighed. Finn wished he would stop doing that.

"Our parents are getting married," Finn said abruptly.

"I'm well aware," Kurt said mildly.

"So…we can't keep living like this. We're going to be a…a family, soon." The fact that Finn stumbled over the word "family" did not escape Kurt's notice.

"We are so…we should both just…say how we feel. Get it out in the open now, and calmly, so we don't have any…outbursts like last time," Kurt was choosing his words carefully. It was true that he didn't want to live with Finn. He wanted to get over his stupid crush (for that's what he had firmly decided it was, and once he set his mind to something, he could be very stubborn about it) and doing that when the object of his desire was a mere few feet away for all of the night and good portions of the day was going to be nearly impossible. But Carole made his dad happy. So Kurt had to be a man and suck it up.

"Can I go first?" Finn asked in a small whisper. Kurt was a little terrified of what Finn had to say. He didn't want to cry in front of the older boy. Again.

"Sure," Kurt said breathlessly, trying desperately to brace himself for what was about to come.

Finn paused for a moment. A long moment. Kurt was almost half convinced that Finn had lost the ability to speak but then he took a deep breath, looked away from Kurt and started.

"I feel like you don't want to be around me anymore. You've missed more than half of the Friday night dinners your dad keeps planning, even though he said they were a long-standing tradition in your family. You won't talk to me in Glee and you avoid me in classes and the hallways. I know what I said was…inforgivable—"

"_Un_forgivable," Kurt gently corrected him out of habit.

"Right, right. Unforgivable. But…I don't know. We're going to be a fam…we're going to be living together. So…maybe you could…just accept my apology and I'll do my best to make it up to you?"

Kurt had expected to feel ashamed of himself for being the cause of Finn's awkward behavior. He had expected to have to run crying from the room after Finn admitted that he was still incredibly uncomfortable around Kurt and didn't want to share a room with him under any circumstances because he found the younger boy creepy. Instead he felt ashamed but for entirely different reasons.

"I do forgive you, Finn. Of course I forgive you," he said, though he still couldn't look his soon-to-be stepbrother in the eyes.

"Then why won't you even look at me?" Finn's voice was a little louder now, and just a touch irritated.

"Because I'm embarrassed!" Kurt shouted, finally looking Finn straight in the eyes.

"About what?" Finn asked. When Kurt said nothing, Finn continued. "Don't pull this silent treatment crap on me again. This is a talk and we both have to contribute. It's your turn now. Start talking."

Kurt had rarely seen such a determined look on Finn's face. Kurt knew he would have to come clean now. Kurt was beginning to think that Finn hanging around with Rachel so much was a very bad thing. Slowly exhaling, he pulled his knees to his chin and wrapped his arms around his legs. In this strangle little version of the fetal position, he began speaking, once again not looking at Finn.

"I…I really liked you, Finn. I still do. I think I might always have a bit of a soft spot for you. I just…I know you're straight. I knew it before, too. I guess I hoped you…could get to know me and like my personality and that might change your feelings about your painfully heterosexual leanings. I realize now it was stupid. I'm so embarrassed because I pretty much threw myself at you even though…I should have known better. I, of all people, should have understood that you can't change your sexuality even if you want to. That fight we had…it just made me realize how incredibly…inappropriately I'd been acting. I've been avoiding you because…if I were you, I wouldn't want to hang around me, either."

When Kurt finished, he was staring straight at Finn but was still wrapped in his extremely defensive posture. And the silence from Finn was back. Kurt sighed.

"Stop doing that," Finn said suddenly.

"Stop doing what?"

"Sighing."

"Sorry."

Finn didn't answer. Kurt was wondering if it were possible for you to disappear if you wished hard enough. Then he decided it was impossible because he was certain no one could wish harder than he was right now.

"I'm still not entirely comfortable around you," Finn finally said. And it cut through Kurt almost more than he could stand. Finn must have realized this because he looked rather guilty for a moment. "I'm just trying to be honest." Something that Rachel was always trying to get him to do. Although she kind of got mad at him a lot for expressing an opinion she didn't agree with. Whatever… "I'm just not…used to it, I guess. I don't know any other gay guys so it's…weird for me. I guess I also don't understand why you would like me. I kind of treated you like crap for most of the time we knew each other, you know, until I joined Glee. But…I do know that I like you. I mean, I like talking to you and stuff. You always helped me out when I needed it and you're a nice guy. I miss us being friends. I thought maybe…we could go back to that now that we're going to be…"

"Brothers?" Kurt offered when Finn trailed off.

Finn nodded shyly.

The room fell into silence again but it was much more comfortable this time.

"I've always wanted a big brother," Kurt said suddenly. This was a total lie. He'd never wanted a big brother. His dad was all he'd ever needed. But he supposed if he was going to have a stepmom now, he might as well have a brother, too. Takes the pressure off being an only child.

"Really?" Finn said excitedly.

"Haha, yeah," Kurt laughed. "I guess I'm glad it'll be you. It could be someone way worse."

"Yeah," Finn smiled. "Hey! Now we can practice Glee assignments together!"

"And I can teach you how to drive!"

"…Kurt, I know how to drive."

"Yeah, don't try and pull that one on me. I've been in the car with you. I don't even know how you're still alive."

Soon they were laughing and talking. Even Finn could tell the laughter was rather forced and the talking died down at awkward places. They were still a little skittish of each other and they were both keeping a good deal of space between them, but Finn couldn't help but feel like their first sincere heart to heart had let their relationship go miles in a very short amount of time.

Soon, Kurt pulled his ipod out and decided that they needed a little music to fill the uncomfortable gaps in conversation. He hoped they would get better at this whole 'hanging out' thing, but for now, he decided some nice background music would work wonders. He paused for a minute, wondering what type of music to put on, before deciding he'd just put it on shuffle and let fate decide.

When Kurt heard the familiar strains of I Believe In a Thing Called Love, he frowned and wondered if he should skip the song. A love song seemed totally inappropriate to play right now, but Finn shouted when Kurt made a move to change the song.

"Don't you dare! These are my jams!" Finn said, instantly starting to play air guitar.

"These are your _jams_?" Kurt said incredulously. Had Finn really just said that?

"Oh yeah, I love The Darkness!" Finn continued to rock out on imaginary instruments.

"_I believe in a thing called love!_

_Just listen to the rhythm of my heart!_

_There's a chance we could make it now._

_We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down!_

_I believe in a thing called love!_

_Ooh!"_

Finn sounded absolutely ridiculous singing in that falsetto. He missed half the notes but continued pretending he was Justin Hawkins anyway. He was dancing around, too. Jumping on and off the bed and switching from playing air guitar to playing air drums and then back again whenever it suited him.

Kurt was on the floor, laughing. He knew Finn was a bad dancer and not a strong singer when it came to falsetto, but this was too much. What really made the whole performance, though, was the look on his face. It said, quite clearly, "Look at what a badass I am!" Kurt could barely breathe.

"_Touching you, touching me!_

_Touching you, god you're touching me!_

_Ooh!"_

"I can't…I can't breathe," gasped Kurt. "I…th-think…I might be dying….please, for the love of g-god..stop."

Finn took no notice of him and continued his impromptu performance. He finished the song with a few (completely off-beat) head bangs and a nicely placed rock 'n roll scream. Kurt was still unable to support his own weight from laughing.

_The next day…_

"Um…Finn?"

Finn looked over to see Sam Evans standing next to him, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Finn thought how he had that exact same nervous habit and hoped to god he didn't look that stupid when he did it.

"Yeah, Sam?" Finn asked. They were on…better terms. Since Finn was back on the football team, they had bonded a little but Finn was still a little sore on the fact that Sam chose his popularity over the Glee Club.

"Um, I was wondering if…maybe it wasn't too late to still tryout for Glee Club?"

_Huh, no kidding_, thought Finn.

"I'll have to ask Mr. Shue but I'm sure he'll be fine with it. Its not too late in the year, yet, and we really need new members," Finn explained.

"Oh, cool," Sam smiled.

"What changed your mind about Glee?" Finn asked. If Finn was honest with himself he was secretly hoping that his own popularity had increased because of his triumphant return to the football team and now it was cool to be in Glee.

"Well…my sister's really interested in it," Sam admitted. "I told her all about you guys and Billionaire and she though it was awesome but she's too scared to try out on her own so she made me promise I would."

"Oh, that's cool," Finn said and he tried to hide his disappointment. He wondered if it was because of thoughts like his previous one about his own popularity that were the reason everyone always called him a dreamer. "Anyway, we've actually got practice this afternoon if you want to stop in. I'll talk to Mr. Shue before then so he'll be ready for you."

"Thanks, Finn, I owe you one, man," Sam smiled and walked away.

"No problem," Finn smiled back.

"Who was that?" Kurt was beside him now.

"That was Sam Evans," Finn said.

"Oh so _that's_ Sam," Kurt smiled. "I was beginning to think he was a figment of your addled imagination."

"What?"

"Well…you're the only one who ever talks about him and he never showed up for the tryout," Kurt shrugged. "I started to doubt his existence."

"He's the quarterback on the football team. Other people know who he is," Finn insisted.

"I thought you were the quarterback," Kurt said idly, slowly loosing interest in the conversation and starting to study his nails.

"I was, then I was kicked off the team."

"But you're back on the team now."

"As the second string quarterback."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. I don't think Coach Beiste really trusts me anymore. But its ok, I'll get it back."

"Whatever you say."

"Damn straight. Oh! I almost forgot. I've got good news," Finn smiled almost devilishly.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"I've got new recruits for New Directions!"

"Really? Who?" Kurt asked excitedly.

"Sam and his sister!"

"Oh," Kurt's face fell.

"Oh? That's it?"

"Well…are you positive he's actually going to show this time?"

"Yes!"

"Finn?"

"OK, maybe less sure than I would have been if he hadn't shown up the first time…"

"Ew."

"What?"

"Rachel's coming over here."

"Dude, be nicer to her. She _is_ my girlfriend. I'd really appreciate it if you two got along."

"Don't call me 'dude.' And I'll try to be nicer to her. But I'm not making any promises."

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," Finn recited what Kurt was sure was something Carole had told a young Finn (and probably a young Puck) about a million times.

"Hi, Finn! Hi, Kurt!" Rachel said brightly as she strode over.

Kurt's face at the moment Rachel appeared was excruciating to look at. He had taken in Rachel's entire appearance and had needed to bite forcefully down on his own tongue so as not to say anything about the god-awful, lime green and orange atrocity of an outfit she was wearing. And the puppy sweater. Dear god, the puppy sweater…All the while thinking these thoughts and trying to keep a handle on his own very independent mouth, Kurt tried to force himself to smile in her direction. It looked very painful.

"Are…you alright, Kurt?" Rachel asked.

Kurt simply nodded and waved a hand in farewell to both of them before escaping off to his next class.

"That was kind of weird…is he mad at me or something?" Rachel asked.

"No," Finn was having a hard time trying not to laugh as he remembered the look on Kurt's face. "Why would you ask?"

"He didn't even insult my shoes today," she sighed.

"Are you actually upset that you didn't get insulted?"

"Well," she said, straightening her self up. "You know what they say. Any press is good press. Though I wonder what's up with him," she continued thoughtfully. "I hope he's not upset about me getting the Rent solo."

"He doesn't insult you so you think he's mad at you?"

"Well, yeah. He's Kurt. Insulting my clothing is how he says hello," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Finn wondered absentmindedly if he was the only sane person left in Ohio.

"I can't believe he'd be so bitter about one solo, though," Rachel continued. "The song wasn't even right for him!"

"This isn't about the solo," Finn said, interrupting her. Usually, he just let her rant and kept his thoughts to himself, but he decided to set the record straight on this one. "I asked him to be nicer to you."

"And he actually agreed to this?" Rachel was aghast.

"Well…with our parents getting married and everything, we're trying a lot harder to get along now. And if he's going to get along with me, he has to get along with you, too."

"You actually told him that?" she asked, a little surprised.

"Of course. You know you're my girl."

Rachel beamed up at him and they walked off to their next class hand in hand.

_Later that day…_

Here it was. The moment of truth. Any minute now, Sam would walk through that door and audition for Glee Club. Finn was willing it to be so.

"I think your pal's flaked out again," Puck said, glaring in Finn's direction.

"He'll be here! I know it," Finn said in his faithful Finn way.

The rest of the club gave him some incredulous looks and shook their heads. Except for Brittany, who was wondering what corn flakes had to do with Glee Club.

"Well…maybe we'll just start practicing until he gets here…" Mr. Shue started to suggest, but there was no need because there was a sudden knock at the choir room door.

A blond head poked in hesitantly.

"Sam?" guessed Mr. Shue.

"Yeah," Sam nodded. He walked into the room, accompanied by a slightly frumpy looking girl who seemed to have a nervous habit of trying to hide her chin in the gigantic sweater she was wearing. "And this is my sister, Christine."

"Well, this is great, guys!" Mr. Shue clapped his hands together excitedly. "I'm Mr. Shuester. I'm the faculty advisor and I must say, it is a pleasure to have you both here!"

Both of the Evans beamed at him.

"So, which one of you would like to audition first?"

"Actually," Sam said, glancing back at his sister. "Do you mind if we sing together? That's kind of how we practiced this song."

"Even better!" exclaimed Mr. Shue, grinning. "Harmonies are very important for a strong Glee Club.

Sam smiled in a very charming way and Christine gave a very shy smile.

"Can I borrow a guitar?" Sam asked.

"Of course! What are you going to be singing for us?"

"I'm Gonna Be by the Proclaimers," Christine had answered quietly while Sam went to fetch the guitar.

"Really?" Finn let out an excited squeak. Kurt would have laughed but he had just barely contained a squeal of his own. That didn't stop everyone else from laughing at Finn, though.

"Haha, yeah, you want to join us?" Sam asked Finn.

"Hell yes!" Finn ran like an overexcited puppy to the drum set.

Sam started strumming and Finn started drumming and soon they were off.

"_When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be,_

_I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next you._

_When I go out, yeah I know I'm gonna be_

_I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you._

_If I get drunk, well I know I'm gonna be_

_I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you._

_And if I haver up, Yeah I know I'm gonna be_

_I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you!"_

Sam and Christine switched off vocals and sang together in a confusing pattern that none of the rest of the Glee Club could follow but that just made it all the more entertaining. It was clear just from watching them sing this song that they were close. They seemed to anticipate each other's actions and worked great as a duet. Neither of them were that strong as singers on their own (that hadn't found a new Sunshine, that's for sure) but when they sang together they made both their voices stronger.

"_But I would walk 500 miles_

_And I would walk 500 more_

_Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles_

_To fall down at your door!_

_da da da (da da da)_

_da da da (da da da)_

_Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da!"_

The rest of the Glee Club was clearly enjoying the song. Finn noticed that Kurt, in particular, seemed to love the whole performance. Which gave Finn quite an idea.

When the Evans and Finn wrapped up the song, all the gleeks and their teacher clapped hard.

"Welcome to Glee Club!" Mr. Shue shouted. Sam and Christine beamed at him and he motioned for them to take their seats.

"Mr. Shuester?" Rachel interrupted Shue before he'd even had the chance to suggest moving on.

"Yes, Rachel?" Kurt marveled at the fact that Mr. Shue had been able to contain the world weary tone that usual accompanied those words.

"I would just like to welcome our newest glee clubbers in my own special way!" She announced proudly.

"Alright, Rachel, take the floor."

"Thank you. Now, that wonderful little song reminds me of a Vanessa Carlton number with a similar theme."

Mercedes thought she knew where this was going.

"Oh hell no," she interrupted.

"Mercedes, please," pleaded Mr. Shue.

"What? She always gets to sing! What if we all want to welcome our new members?"

Finn was pretty sure from the look on Shue's face that he was desperately hoping a diva fight wasn't about to occur and scare off the new members.

"You know what, Rachel?" Finn said. "Why don't you just start singing and the rest of us will all join in when we know the words! That way, it'll be from all of us."

Kurt wondered vaguely when Finn got so good a diffusing tension. Maybe all that time with Rachel had taught him something, after all. That girl was always five minutes away from a major diva-explosion and Finn had actually gotten good at diffusing the bomb before in went off.

"Well, alright," Rachel agreed and Mercedes at least looked a little more content. Mr. Shue looked relieved.

Brad began the opening bars on the piano and then Rachel started to sing.

"_Making my way downtown_

_Walking fast_

_Faces passed_

_And I'm home bound._

_Staring blankly ahead_

_Just making my way_

_Making my way_

_Through the crowd._

_And I need you._

_And I miss you._

_And now I wonder..."_

The rest of the club joined in for the chorus. Mr. Shue beamed at how they managed to harmonize so well even though they'd never practiced this song before.

"_If I could fall_

_Into the sky,_

_Do you think time_

_Would pass me by?_

_'Cause you know I'd walk_

_A thousand miles_

_If I could_

_Just see you_

_Tonight."_

Sam and Christine looked a little uncomfortable at being sung to (Finn remembers the feeling, it IS uncomfortable because you're never quite sure how to respond and you're very well aware of the fact that other people are staring at you being sung to even though you're not doing anything) but they seemed to appreciate the sentiment.

And Finn hoped Kurt would, too.

_The next Glee practice…_

"Mr. Shue?"

Mr. Shuester barely managed to suppress a sigh. He wondered if he should just stop planning out practices at all. These days it seemed like it never took long before he was being interrupted. Sometimes he cursed himself for encouraging the kids to express themselves so much. Maybe Coach Beiste was right. Maybe stuff like this should count as insubordination…

"Yes, Finn?" Mr. Shue finally replied.

"I've got something I've been working on and I'd really like to share it with everyone."

"Yeah…" Mr. Shue shook his head. "Go ahead, then."

Finn glanced around at everyone's curious faces. He was kind of glad that Sam and Christine had some sort of family thing and couldn't make today's practice. He had a feeling this might be a little embarrassing and he didn't want the new kids to think too weirdly of him just yet.

"Well, as you guys probably know, my mom will be marrying Kurt's dad in a couple of months," Finn began, situating himself in the center of the room. Kurt visibly stiffened. He didn't like where this was going. "Now, Kurt and I haven't always gotten along. But we've sort of become friends since our parents started dating and I'm kind of psyched about having a brother."

Some of the girls in the room let out an audible "awww."

Kurt was really flattered. But he was also hoping a hole in the ground would swallow him up before Finn started singing to him.

"Anyway, Kurt," Finn continued. "I know you're obsessed with that show with that mother and daughter who talk really fast. I can't understand most of what they're saying half the time, but I like the song at the beginning so I thought I'd sing it for you."

Kurt's cheeks were so red he thought they might actually be on fire. He couldn't believe what Finn was about to start singing. Finn smiled at the room and handed the sheet music to Brad. Brad started playing and Finn started to sing.

"_Loving you the way I do_

_I only wanna be with you_

_And I would go to the ends of the earth._

_Oh, darling, to me that's what you're worth."_

Finn reached to Kurt to pull him to the front of the room for the chorus. Kurt was vehemently shaking his head 'no' but Finn pulled him up anyway. After forcing Kurt to join him at the front of the room, Finn proceeded to poke Kurt until he started to sing with him.

"_Where you lead, I will follow_

_Anywhere that you tell me to_

_If you need, you need me to be with you_

_I will follow where you lead."_

All the girls started clapping and singing along. All of the boys (including Kurt but excluding Finn) looked more than a little uncomfortable. Puck glanced at Mike and Artie and raised an eyebrow as if to suggest. "what the hell is happening right now?"

"Yeah…Tina used to make me watch that show," said Artie quietly while the girls got up to make Finn and Kurt dance with them while still singing the song. "It's a girl thing."

"Finn's just trying to show Kurt he's OK with them being related," Mike put in a defense for Finn. Artie glared at him but said nothing. Artie wasn't one to hold grudges against people…but he also didn't think kindly of girlfriend stealers, either.

"I'm sympathetic to the dude," Puck said, nodding his head towards Finn. "But even for Finn, this is pretty gay."

"_I'm gonna follow where you lead!_

_(I'm gonna follow where you lead.) _

_I'm gonna follow where you lead!_

_(I'm gonna follow where you lead.)"_

Mercedes let out one her classic wailing runs on the last line and the song ended amidst applause and laughter from all the girls.

Kurt was still bright red, but he was laughing now as well. He glanced at his stepbrother to be and figured he had to get used to this. This was just how Finn showed his affection. In incredibly embarrassing, awkward and uncomfortable ways. Yes, this was just like Finn. And Kurt supposed that it was an older brother's job to embarrass his little brother. Kurt just couldn't wait for the opportunity to pay him back for this totally mortifying yet somehow very touching stunt.

(**A/N:** Yes, it ends happy, but don't worry there is plenty more drama to come. I had to fix everything before I can break it all again, you know? I'm like Count Rugen from The Princess Bride. I like to make my victims whole before I break them. Mwahahahahaa. I know it was a little heavy on the Finn and Kurt bonding but don't worry. There will be Sam and Kurt scenes very soon.)

**Songs (in order of appearance):**

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness

500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be) by The Proclaimers

A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

Where You Lead by Carol King


	2. We All Live In A Yellow Submarine

(**A/N**: All my love and thanks to the people who supported the first chapter of this story, whether it was by reviewing it or putting it on your favorites list or your story alerts list. Seriously, I cannot believe how many people put this on their alerts. I suppose I should never underestimate the power of a Sam/Kurt pairing. They are just too cute.

Also…I had no intention of making this chapter so long. It sort of got away from me. I blame the fact that I still have to wait another week for a new episode of Glee! I'm going through withdraw and really needed my gleeks.)

**Warnings**: Some mild cursing, mentions of homosexual couples and excess use of Beatles songs.

**A House Is Not A Home**

**Chapter Two- We All Live In A Yellow Submarine**

Will Shuester walked into the choir room looking giddy as a schoolgirl and bounded up to the white board. All the gleeks suddenly looked wary. This look was _never_ a good thing.

"Guys, I have found our theme for the week!" he beamed happily.

All the kids stifled groans, except for Sam and Christine who just looked politely interested. _Ah well_, thought Kurt. _They'll learn soon enough. I remember when I used to be interested by Shue's themes of the week…_

Quickly picking up a marker, Mr. Shue scrawled _The Beatles_ across the white board. Puck and Mercedes groaned, Artie looked thrilled and Rachel looked determined to rise to the challenge.

"What comes to mind when you think of the Beatles?" Mr. Shue asked the class.

"Overrated," said Puck.

"You watch your heathen tongue," everyone was shocked to hear such a response come from Artie, of all people. Even Puck looked taken aback.

"I always thought a beetle was a type of fish," Brittany informed everyone.

"Oooookay," said Mr. Shue, using his patented "let's just pretend that last part of the conversation didn't happen" ™ tone. But alas, the kids had grown immune to his remarkable powers of conversation changing.

"Yeah, Mr. Shue, Puck's right," Santana said. "I don't know what 'yellow submarine' is a euphemism for and I really don't want to spend a week trying to find out."

"Well…they wrote a whole lot of songs other than Yellow Submarine. You know that, right?" Mr. Shue raised an eyebrow.

"Fellow Glee Clubbers," began Rachel, rising from her seat. "I say we take this as a great opportunity to expand our horizons. I know the less educated among us may not realize the phenomenal impact that the Beatles had on music, but I think we can all agree that their extensive compilation of albums makes it possible for all of us to find a Beatles' song every last one of us can enjoy."

"Thanks, Rachel," said Mr. Shue as Rachel sat back down. He then sighed as he saw whose hand was raised now. "Yes, Mercedes?"

"Look, I've got nothing against the Beatles," she said. "I just don't understand why our themes of the week have to be so white all the time."

"Because most of us would look ridiculous trying to do something black?" suggested Tina.

"I don't see why I have to be punished because you all are too white for your own good," retorted Mercedes.

"Mercedes, I promise you that we will do something a little more…_black_ in the future," Mr. Shue conceded. "But right now, we're talking about the Beatles."

"Mr. Shue, can't you just listen to us when we tell you that we don't want to spend a week singing about how we want to live in an octopus' garden?" interjected Puck.

"You should never go anywhere with an octopus. He'll rape you with his tentacles," said Brittany knowledgably. They had all gotten more or less used to ignoring the things Brittany said but that one caused even Mr. Shue to pause before shaking his head and continuing.

"Guys, the Beatles were about so much more than weird songs!" an exasperated Mr. Shue tried to explain.

"Yeah, they were also about taking a lot of drugs, too," said Sam, who quickly high fived Puck.

"Mr. Shue? If you'll allow me to demonstrate?" Artie wheeled himself over to the electric guitar waiting beside the other instruments in the corner of the room.

"Sure, Artie. Take it away," Mr. Shue looked pleased that at least one person was appreciating this week's lesson.

"Artie, I didn't know you were such a big fan of the Beatles," Kurt piped up from the back.

"Of course! Have you ever listened to them?" asked Artie incredulously. "The things those guys could do with a guitar…"

"So what are you going to sing for us?" asked Mr. Shue.

"Well, since most of you appear to only be familiar with their more main stream, peppy music," Artie began, adjusting his glasses. "I thought we'd take a quick trip deep into Mr. John Lennon's darkest nightmares."

A few of the kids snorted at the melodrama with which Artie had introduced the song, but they were curious enough to stay quiet when he began.

"_Yes, I'm lonely._

_Wanna die_

_Yes, I'm lonely._

_Wanna die._

_If I ain't dead already,_

_Ooh girl, you know the reason why."_

It was an incredibly intense song. Artie's voice was gruff and so full of emotion it was almost painful to listen to. In addition, he had the distortion on the amp so high that even the guitar itself sounded like it was in pain.

"_In the morning, wanna die._

_In the evening, wanna die."_

While they were fascinated by the performance, many were also getting incredibly uncomfortable. The song itself was so raw and Artie sang like he meant every word of it. It was like they were seeing a part of his soul that no one but himself was ever meant to see.

"_The eagle picks my eye._

_The worm he licks my bones._

_I feel so suicidal—_

_Just like Dylan's Mr. Jones._

_Lonely, wanna die._

_If I ain't dead already,_

_Ooh girl, you know the reason why."_

A few of the kids noticeably shifted uncomfortably in their seats at the direct mention of suicide in the last verse. Tina looked like she was either about to cry or run out of the room. Mike hung his head guiltily. They had no idea if this song was about them or not, but they couldn't help but feel like maybe their relationship had played a part somehow. Mr. Shue could tell everyone was thinking the same thing. Did Artie really feel this way about himself?

"_Black cloud crossed my mind._

_Blue mist round my soul._

_Feel so suicidal,_

_Even hate my rock and roll._

_Wanna die, yeah, wanna die._

_If I ain't dead already,_

_Ooh girl, you know the reason why."_

As Artie wrapped up the song, Mr. Shue jumped in to interrupt the stifling silence he was sure would follow that little presentation.

"See, guys? This is what I'm talking about!" He said, clapping loudly. "Fantastic, Artie! Just fantastic! And I think that was a perfect way to introduce to the class what the Beatles were really about. Breaking out of your box and defying people's expectations of you. Flying in the face of convention and baring your soul to world! Great job. This is what I'm looking for, guys!"

_After school in the Hummel-Hudson's basement_

Finn sighed and looked at the computer.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" he muttered.

"What are you working on?" Kurt asked, looking over Finn's shoulder to see what could be frustrating his almost step brother so much.

"Just this stupid Glee assignment," Finn sighed.

"And why is that sigh worthy?"

"I just don't understand any of these songs."

"Really? You're usually great with classic rock," Kurt said, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I guess," Finn shook his head. "But I only know like _two_ of their songs from the radio. I don't know anything in the…'break out of the box' style Mr. Shue was talking about. So I tried looking up some of their lesser known songs but…I just don't think any of them are right for me."

"Why not?"

"I have absolutely no idea what they mean. Listen to this: 'Creme tangerine and Montélimar, a ginger sling with a pineapple heart, a coffee dessert-yes you know it's good news'…what the hell does that even mean? And what the hell is a savoy truffle, anyway?"

"Um…I don't know…they're the Beatles. Maybe they're so awesome they don't have to make sense?" Kurt suggested.

Even Finn wasn't buying that.

"Yeah…I don't really know anything about the Beatles, either," Kurt shrugged. "Maybe we should both do some research and see what we come up with."

"I just don't think this is my type of music."

"But we're going to be singing it no matter what, so we might as well see what the big deal is," Kurt was determined to find a suitable selection to sing for Glee. One that would really make him shine.

"I don't see why you're so determined to take this assignment seriously."

_Because I'm sick of being bested by Rachel. She gets all the solos, all the attention…she even gets the guy_. Kurt shook his head as if that would help dismiss that particular train of thought from his mind. _Brother…brother….he's your brother now. Stop thinking of him like that. You just want to beat Rachel because…no, wait, what am I saying? I want to do well in Glee because I love performing. That's why I need to find the perfect song._

"I guess I figure if I start taking Mr. Shue's assignments a little more seriously, he'll take me a little more seriously when he's assigning solos," Kurt finally answered Finn, setting up his laptop and hunkering down for some serious researching.

_Several hours later…_

"OK, I've had it," Finn looked about ready to throw his computer out the window. He might have, too. Except they were in a basement and had less than easy access to windows.

"What's the problem now, Finn?" Kurt asked.

"I just listened to all of Revolution 9!" shouted Finn. "You have GOT to be kidding me! That's not even a song! Its…its just NOISE!"

"Yeah, I found that one about an hour ago…Sam was not kidding when he said they were about drugs. But," Kurt continued. "You must have found at least one song of theirs you like. I've found a couple."

"I guess some are alright," conceded Finn. "I still don't know what I'm going to sing, though."

"Me either. But I think I have an idea about how to get into a Beatles mindset."

Finn didn't like the look that was on Kurt's face. That was his evil planning face. They'd only lived together for a short period of time, but even Finn knew that was a bad face to see.

"And…what idea is that?" he asked nervously.

"For the rest of the week, I'm only going to listen to Beatles music!" chirped Kurt. "That way, I'll get a feel for their style and I'll totally kill with my performance! Though I'm not sure any of us will beat Artie. I've never heard him sing like that, have you? It was so…raw. Such pure rage."

"Yeah, it was disturbing."

"It was _inspiring_."

"Whatever."

Finn went back to his research and Kurt started piling Beatles' songs onto his ipod.

_The next morning…_

Finn was in a deep sleep but he felt noises poking at his consciousness early the next morning. Kurt always liked to wake up extra early and Finn had gotten very good at training himself to ignore Kurt's ipod, which was set up to blast a Beyoncé playlist to wake him up every day and he then allowed to play for the remainder of his morning routine, hence it being necessary for Finn to train himself to sleep through Beyoncé. But this was different than Beyoncé…there were some piano chords…and then some drums started….and then…

"_GOOD DAY, SUNSHINE!_

_GOOD DAY, SUNSHINE!_

_GOOD DAY, SUNSHINE!"_

"AAAAAAUGH!" Finn, arms waving widely, screamed and fell out of bed.

Kurt laughed and started his morning routine while the song continued.

"_I need to laugh, and when the sun is out,_

_I've got something I can laugh about!_

_I feel good, in a special way._

_I'm in love and it's a sunny day!"_

"What the hell is happening?" Finn asked blearily. "What happened to Beyoncé? Wait…am I in an alternate universe where Beyoncé doesn't exist? KURT, DOES BEYONCÉ NOT EXIST ANYMORE?"

Kurt nearly fell over laughing. "Calm down, Finn! Of course Beyoncé still exists. She is as safe and as fabulous as ever. But I'm only listening to Beatles songs this week, remember?"

"But…but I just got used to sleeping through Beyoncé!" complained Finn. "Can you at least turn it down or change it to something a little less—"

He was rudely interrupted, once again, by the loud chorus.

"_GOOD DAY, SUNSHINE!_

_GOOD DAY, SUNSHINE!_

_GOOD DAY, SUNSHINE!"_

"A little less what?" asked Kurt.

"A little less…good morning-y? This is just turning me even more against the Beatles. Nobody wakes up that peppy in the morning," grumbled Finn.

"Change it to whatever you like," Kurt said, walking into the bathroom. "Just make sure it's by the Beatles!"

Kurt shut the door behind him. Finn trudged over to Kurt's ipod and decided to indulge his younger brother's crazy attempt to go a whole week hearing nothing but Beatles songs. Grinning at a particular song he thought he liked the title of, Finn pushed play and headed back to his side of the room to fall back asleep. When Kurt finally came out of the bathroom some time later, he giggled to himself when he heard the words of the song coming out of the ipod speakers. Finn must have put it on repeat and then dozed off again.

"_When I wake up early in the morning,_

_Lift my head, I'm still yawning._

_When I'm in the middle of a dream,_

_Stay in bed, float up stream._

_Please don't wake me._

_No, don't shake me._

_Leave me where I am._

_I'm only sleeping."_

Kurt walked over to Finn and shook him awake.

"Sorry, sleeping beauty," chuckled Kurt. "If you don't start getting ready soon, we'll never make it to school in time."

A little while later, Kurt was behind the wheel of his baby with Finn in the passenger seat. Kurt began to sing almost absentmindedly as he drove,

"_Baby's good to me, you know,_

_She's happy as can be, you know,_

_She said so._

_I'm in love with her and I feel fine."_

"Kurt…" Finn raised a thoroughly confused eyebrow. "Are you singing to your car?"

"Well, she's the only one here who I refer to as 'baby,' isn't she?" Kurt said, patting the dashboard.

"Yeah…but she's, I mean, its a _car_," said Finn slowly.

"Got a problem with me singing to my car, Hudson?" Kurt's challenge was friendly but Finn wasn't sure it would stay that way if he continued to insinuate that Kurt had an inappropriate relationship with his car.

"Nope. No problem," Finn shook his head. He liked not having to take the bus to school every morning. And he wouldn't put it past Kurt to kick him out of his 'baby' halfway to school and make him walk the rest of the way.

When they arrived at school, they went their separate ways. Finn watched Kurt walk away from him, arm in arm with Mercedes, and glanced over to see Sam across the hall, apparently flirting with a Cheerio. When the cheerleader left, Finn strode over to the other boy.

"I see you're fitting in nicely here," he grinned.

Sam gave a bit of a sheepish grin back.

"Yeah," Sam shook his head. "It so weird, though. People here are so intense. I'm a little afraid of flirting with the wrong girl."

"Huh?"

"Well, just some of the other guys were telling me who to stay away from. You know, which girls had jealous ex-boyfriends that would probably beat the crap out of me just for talking to their girls. Problem is, they told me all these names but I can't put faces to any of them."

Finn laughed. "I think the guys were just building you up. Its really not that bad."

"You sure? Didn't _you_ beat up some guy for sleeping with your girlfriend last year?" Sam raised an eyebrow, but when he saw the look on Finn's face, he regretting mentioning it.

Finn turned very red and his face displayed an even mixture of embarrassment and anger. He didn't appear able to get out full sentences in his own defense, but Sam caught a few phrases. Something along the lines of "special circumstances" and "who even told you that, anyway."

"Look, sorry I mentioned it, ok?" Sam said. He always did have a talent for saying exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Finn grunted a "don't mention it" and Sam figured the only reason Finn was willing to let it go was because of his ridiculous devotion to Glee Club and his unwillingness to drive anyone away from it.

Sam could feel the tension rise between them in their obvious silence. He wished Finn would just walk away or something, but he supposed Finn didn't want Sam to think he'd taken the comment personally. Swapping the books currently in his backpack for his afternoon classes, Sam struggled for something—_anything_—to say and his eyes landed on his French textbook.

"Hey, you don't speak French, do you?" asked Sam.

"Um, no. I take Spanish," replied Finn.

"Damn."

"Why?"

"Oh, I'm just struggling a little in that class. I can usually get my sister to tutor me in anything I don't understand, but she takes German so…" Sam trailed off. Great. What a wonderful conversation topic. It had lasted all of three seconds.

"I can't help you with that."

Sam sighed.

"But my brother might be able to," Finn said.

"Really?" Sam brightened. He didn't even know Finn had a brother.

"Yeah, I think he's pretty good at it, too," Finn shrugged. "I can ask him if you want."

"Thanks, man, that would be great."

"No problem, I'll let you know what he says," Finn replied as he took out his phone and sent a quick text to Kurt.

"You have no idea how much this means to me. I really need to pass this class."

"Like I said, its no problem. So, lets get going to Glee before we're late, ok?"

"Yeah, sure," Sam nodded. He was glad Finn had stuck around. Sam was still getting confused about which classes he had when. It was like his dyslexia was seeping into his memory or something and it totally sucked. They arrived in the choir room just as the bell rang and hurried to their seats—Finn taking the empty seat next to Rachel and Sam taking the empty seat next to his sister.

"Alright, whose up first?" Mr. Shue clapped his hands and looked at them excitedly.

Sam and Christine exchanged a panicked look. Were they supposed to have something prepared already? He had only given them the assignment yesterday!

"I'll go first!" Puck offered cheerily.

"Really?" Mr. Shue grinned. "That's great, Puck! I'm so glad we've made a convert out of you so soon!"

"Yeah, Mr. Shue," said Puck, grabbing a guitar. "Though it pains me to break my streak of singing only songs by Jewish icons, I think I've found the Beatles song that's perfect for me."

Puck nodded to the drummer for him to start. As soon as the percussion beat spread over the room, Finn noticed that Mr. Shue's smile had faded and that both Rachel and Kurt had facepalmed. Finn didn't understand until a second later when Puck started singing.

"_Why don't we do it in the road?_

_Why don't we do it in the road?_

_Why don't we do it in the road?_

_Why don't we do it in the road?_

_No one will be watching us!_

_Why don't we do it in the road?"_

Most of the class broke into little fits of giggles or just outright laughter. When Puck had finished, Mr. Shue just gave a little shake of his head and thanked him a bit unenthusiastically for the performance.

"Right…anyone else?"

"We'd like to go, Mr. Shue," Mercedes raised her hand and stood up with Tina.

"Take it away, then, girls."

"Right, well…after Artie's amazing performance yesterday, Tina and I were inspired. We all go through hard times and we get so wrapped up in our own lives, we forget that we've got to make sure to look after our friends, too. So we wanted to dedicate this song to Artie," Mercedes beamed at him and Artie blushed a shade of red that Finn didn't even think was possible for humans to achieve.

"_Blackbird singing in the dead of night,_

_Take these broken wings and learn to fly._

_All your life,_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise."_

Tina had tears glistening in her eyes as she sang the first verse. Artie wasn't sure whether he approved of this performance or not. On the one hand, he supposed that he was touched they thought to dedicate a song to him. On the other, he felt like a lot of the motivation for this presentation was pity. And if there was one thing Artie Abrams couldn't stand, it was someone pitying him.

"_Blackbird singing in the dead of night,_

_Take these sunken eyes and learn to see._

_All your life,_

_You were only waiting for this moment to be free."_

As Mercedes sang the second verse, Artie wondered if he would have been fine with having this song dedicated to him if it was just Mercedes singing. Having his ex-girlfriend sing him this song was certainly not making him more inclined to it.

"_Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly_

_Into the light of the dark black night._

_All your life,_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise,_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise,_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise."_

_Library, after school…_

"Stupid French people with their stupid conjugations and their stupid verbs and their stupid accents and their stupid—"

"Need help with something?"

"Huh?" Sam looked up from his French homework. He was staring into the eyes of the only guy in Glee he had yet to have any direct contact with. He was about 90% sure the guys name was Kurt. Sam wasn't entirely sure why the other guys avoided him. Then again, Kurt seemed to just naturally gravitate to the girls in any given situation.

"You sounded like you were having some trouble," Kurt was giving him a look that he couldn't quite read and it suddenly dawned on Sam that he might have started speaking to his homework aloud without realizing it.

"…on a scale of one to ten, how crazy did I sound?" Sam asked nervously.

"Only about a three, but I have a very high tolerance for crazy," laughed Kurt.

"Wow, so…you saw someone muttering to themselves and decided to check out the crazy kid?"

"You looked like you were struggling," Kurt smiled. "And I'm always happy to help a fellow Glee Clubber."

"Really?" Sam perked up.

"Sure," Kurt said. "From what I gathered from your muttering, its French, right? I'm pretty good at French. Do you want some help?"

"That would be…awesome. But I have to warn you…unless you have hours of free time and endless patience, trying to teach me anything will only end in frustration," Sam blushed a little, even though he was the one putting himself down.

"Well, I like a challenge as much as the next guy," Kurt smirked. "Tell you what, why don't you take a break for a while? I think you need one. You look like you're about to pull out your own hair. Meet me at my house in two hours and we'll start chipping away at my endless supply of patience."

Kurt wrote down his address and handed it to Sam.

"Well…thanks, man. This is really awesome of you," Sam said.

"No problem," Kurt winked and walked away, humming 'Here Comes The Sun' as he left. He wasn't entirely sure why, but the song was suddenly stuck in his head.

_The Hummel-Hudson Residence…_

"I just don't understand."

"Beatles again?" Kurt asked his almost sort of stepbrother.

"No. Rachel," Finn replied simply.

"Yeah, I don't understand why you're dating her, either," said Kurt idly as he flicked through one of his fashion magazines.

"Its not that," Finn shook his head. "She's mad at me."

"So apologize."

"But I don't know what I did wrong."

"Doesn't matter, apologize anyway," Kurt said firmly.

"I already tried that."

"And what did she say?"

"She asked me if I knew what I was apologizing for."

"And you had no answer, right?"

"Yeah…"

Finn was splayed across his bed, staring at the ceiling. The thing with Rachel actually wasn't too big of a deal. Rachel had a habit of getting into diva mode and yelling at him a lot for reasons he wasn't too sure about, but it would usually blow over after a little while. He wasn't sure he knew why he was telling Kurt about it. Finn just sort of missed the time when he could talk to Kurt about his problems.

"Maybe you should sing her a song," Kurt suggested. "Even if you still don't know what you did, she'll melt if you sing to her."

"Yeah, probably. I just don't get why she gets so angry at me sometimes. I feel like...I don't know. I feel like she doesn't love me as much as I love her. I felt that way about Quinn, too, and she just ended up cheating on me."

"That's just the way Rachel is," said Kurt gently. "She's bossy and self centered and when things don't go exactly the way she wants, she gets angry. But even I can't deny that she loves you."

"Yeah, I guess," muttered Finn.

Kurt just grinned and started to sing.

"_She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!_

_She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!_

_And with a love like that_

_You know you should be glad._

_You know it's up to you,_

_I think it's only fair,_

_Pride can hurt you, too,_

_Apologize to her!"_

Finn threw a pillow at his face.

"STOP SINGING ADVICE AT ME!" Finn shouted. "The Beatles don't have a song for every situation, you know."

"I think that's where you're wrong," said Kurt.

"This is going to end in me singing a Beatles' song to Rachel tomorrow, isn't it?" asked Finn with a resigned sign.

"Well, now you know what you want to say, you just have to find the right song to say it," smiled Kurt.

"You'll at least help me find it, right?" Finn asked.

Kurt checked his watch. "I can help for a little while but Sam'll be over in a bit."

"Sam's coming over?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, the first in what I assume will be many tutoring sessions," Kurt rolled his eyes. "I found him in the library, sitting by himself and muttering about how stupid the French are."

"Wow…you work fast," Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, you're the one that asked me to help him out," Kurt shrugged. Finn noticed how Kurt didn't look at him when he said that and he wasn't entirely certain he liked the look on Kurt's face when he had announced that Sam was coming over.

When Sam rang the doorbell a few minutes, Burt answered the door. Sam looked him up and down quickly and then looked back down at the paper that Kurt had written his address on.

"I…think I might be at the wrong house," Sam said slowly. _Damn my dyslexia._ It always made him second-guess things like this, sometimes with very good reason.

"Nah, you're at the right house. You're here for Finn, right?" Burt said, noticing the kid's letterman jacket.

"Um, no…"

"Dad, its fine. That's Sam," a voice from behind the man said. Sam thought it sounded like Kurt's.

"Sam, huh?" Burt was now suddenly giving him the hairy eyeball and refusing to move out of the way to let him in the house. "And he would be…?"

"In the Glee Club," Kurt finished. "I'm just helping him out with some of his French homework, Dad."

Burt grunted and finally granted Sam access to the house. Kurt just rolled his eyes at his father and gestured for Sam to follow him.

"Come on, Sam."

Burt wasn't sure why he hadn't taken such an instant dislike to this kid. Maybe it was that his hair was just too blond. Burt didn't trust people with that unnatural hair color.

As Sam followed Kurt into the basement, he was shocked at the sight that met his eyes. Half the room was what he would have expected from Kurt (exceptionally clean, designer furniture, posters for shows on Broadway on the walls), but the other half was…

"Yeah," Kurt said, noticing what Sam was staring at. "That's my brother's side of the room. I like to pretend it doesn't exist."

"Must be hard," Sam said. Even with the privacy partition separating the two sides and blocking most of Sam's view of the other side, Sam could tell that that side of the room looked a lot more like a normal teenage boy's room. It was incredibly messy, with dirty laundry spilling over almost onto Kurt's side. Sam thought he caught a glimpse of a few football posters and maybe even…was that cowboy wallpaper?

"You've no idea," Kurt said. "So, let's get started, shall—"

Kurt was interrupted by loud footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Kurt, do you remember where I left the—oh, hey Sam!" Finn waved to him. "Sorry, didn't know you were here already, didn't mean to interrupt the studying mojo. Kurt, do you remember where I left the lyrics for my Glee song?"

"Check your bed," Kurt answered.

Finn bounded down the rest of the stairs and behind the privacy partition.

"Not here," Finn's disappointed voice drifted over to them.

"Did you check under your covers?" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"No…oh! Here they are! I found them!"

"Congratulations, Frankenteen."

"I hate it when you call me that," Finn frowned as he appeared from behind the partition once again.

"Wait…" said Sam with the air of someone who was going to great lengths to solve a particularly difficult problem. "You two are _brothers_?"

Both Finn and Kurt laughed.

"Well, yeah, kind of," said Finn.

Sam looked incredibly confused. He opened and closed his mouth, shook his head and then opened his mouth again but still no sound came out.

"I think we broke him," laughed Kurt.

"Yeah, it takes a while to get used to us," Finn said. "But I mean, look at you and your sister. You two aren't exactly peas in a pod, but you're tight."

Sam shook his head again. "I guess now that I think about it, you two do look a lot alike."

This time Finn and Kurt were the ones stunned into silence for a moment.

"Right…" said Kurt, intent on ignoring Sam's last comment. Kurt had clearly misjudged him. He was probably a full-blown 10 on the crazy scale. "We should get back to French. And Finn, you should get back to making Rachel forgive you."

"Right," Finn said brightly, saluting them with the sheet music he was currently holding. "I'll see you two later. Sam, are you staying for dinner?"

"Um…I don't know."

"You're welcome to," said Kurt. "I think Carole's making meatloaf or something."

"That sounds good," said Sam, not bothering to ask who Carole was because he wasn't sure his mind could handle anymore confusing family relations.

"Alright," said Finn as he left. "I'll see you guys then."

An hour later, Kurt was just beginning to understand how much Sam had really meant it when he said he'd need endless patience. Sam's dyslexia made him frustrated, and when he got frustrated his dyslexia got worse which frustrated him even more. It was a horrible spiraling cycle that was slowly driving Kurt insane. When it got to the point where Sam looked like he might either cry or throw something, Kurt put his foot down.

"Sam, take a breath," he said.

Sam put his pencil down and leaned back in his chair.

"Sam," said Kurt firmly. "You have to stop getting yourself so worked up. It is just making everything worse. You _have_ to calm yourself down so you can focus on your work."

"Its easy for you to say I need to calm down," snapped Sam. "You're not the one who can barely read English, let alone comprehend a foreign language."

"Sam, you have to stop putting yourself down. You're smarter than that. You just have a disability that makes it a little harder for you to do things than other people."

Sam sighed. "Thanks for saying that, Kurt. But it doesn't matter. I'm going to fail anyway."

"_Think of what you're saying._

_You can get it wrong and still you think that it's all right._

_Think of what I'm saying,_

_We can work it out and get it straight, or say good night._

_We can work it out,_

_We can work it out."_

"Why are you singing at me?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"…I thought it might make you feel better?"

"You Glee kids are weird."

"Hey, watch it. You're one of us now."

Sam shook his head in disbelief but picked up his pencil and continued to work with renewed vigor anyway.

_The next morning…_

"_GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING,_

_GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING,_

_GOOD MORNING, AH!"_

"Oh my god," Finn grumbled. He was sorely tempted to throw his pillow at Kurt's ipod to shut it up but he didn't trust his aim this early in the morning. "How many songs do they have about waking up in the morning?"

"_Going to work, don't want to go,_

_feeling low down._

_Heading for home, you start to roam_

_then you're in town."_

Finn stumbled over to Kurt's side of the room, growling at the other boy who was already making his way to the bathroom. Really, having his sleep interrupted the day before had been bad enough, but two days in a row now? Not cool, dude. He tried to find a song that would express his feelings to Kurt. _Expressing myself through song? Stupid Shuester is getting in my brain_…

Kurt was too busy singing Love Me Do under his breath that he almost didn't register what song Finn had switched his ipod to until he realized how much it was clashing with the song that he was currently singing to himself.

"_I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink._

_I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink._

_I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink?_

_No, no, no."_

Kurt smirked and walked over to wake up his big brother.

"Gaaaah…noooo…five more minutes, Kurtie," Finn tried to avoid the reality of the conscious world by burrowing deeper under his covers. Unfortunately, he was soon jolted into a fully awakened state as a large object chose that moment to land on top of him.

"OW!"

"That was for calling me 'Kurtie.'"

Finn was still rubbing the sore spot on his side when they got into Kurt's Navigator half an hour later.

"Dude, I swear this is going to bruise," grumbled Finn.

"So much for being the big, bad football player."

"Yeah, remind me to wear pads and a helmet when I go to sleep tonight. You're lethal in the mornings."

"What's got your boxers in a bunch, Hudson?"

"I hate morning people so much…" Finn mumbled it under his breath but Kurt heard it anyway and smirked.

"Just consider it my duty as your younger brother to annoy the crap out of you."

"So, how did things with Sam go last night?"

"Oh, alright, I guess," said Kurt. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Finn answered. "Do you like him?"

"'course I do," Kurt replied breezily. "He's in Glee, isn't he? And he seems like a decent guy."

"No, I mean…do you _like_ like him?" Finn studied Kurt's reaction closely.

"I really don't think that's any of your business," Kurt replied stiffly.

"Just consider it my duty as your older brother to get involved in your business."

_The next Glee practice…_

"Have you picked out a song yet, Sam?" Kurt sat down next to the blond football player.

"No, not since my sister abandoned me," Sam rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Oh, Quinn asked her to sing a song with her," said Sam. "I shouldn't complain. Christine's really excited to be making a new friend, especially a cheerleader but that means that our plan to do a duet version of Paperback Writer just went down the drain."

"You could always sing it by yourself," Kurt suggested.

Sam shrugged. "Christine picked that one. If I have to sing alone anyway, I might as well sing a song I get to pick out."

"I could help you find a song, if you want," Kurt offered. "I've been doing a bunch of research on the Beatles. I helped Finn pick out his song."

"Thanks, man, but you already helped me so much with French, I don't want to put you out even more."

"Speaking of French, you've got a test coming up, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Need help studying?"

"If you don't mind…"

"Come over again tonight," Kurt smiled. "We'll make you bilingual by the end of the semester."

The bell rang and Mr. Shuester surveyed the class.

"Alright, anyone got anything for us today?"

"I do, Mr. Shue!" Finn jumped up passed his sheet music to the band. Kurt grinned to himself. He knew what song was coming.

"_Oh! Darling, please believe me,_

_I'll never do you no harm._

_Believe me when I tell you,_

_I'll never do you no harm!_

_Oh! Darling, if you leave me_

_I'll never make it alone._

_Believe me when I beg you,_

_Don't ever leave me alone!"_

Rachel, of course, looked extremely flattered. It was clear he was singing to her. She had tried to glare at him and at least put up the pretense of still being mad at him, but Rachel Berry never could resist being serenaded. They all clapped hardily when Finn's song ended, and he went back to sit next to Rachel, flashing a big grin and two thumbs up to Kurt before turning back around to face Mr. Shue.

"Great job, Finn," said Mr. Shue. "I think you really—yes, Brittany?"

"Mr. Shue, I had a song I'd like to sing," said Brittany.

Mr. Shue looked shocked and a little apprehensive, but he let Brittany take the floor. Far be it from him to discourage one of his students from asserting themselves.

"_Got a good reason, for taking the easy way out?_

_Got a good reason, for taking the easy way out, now?_

_She was a day-tripper, one-way ticket, yeah!_

_It took me so long to find out, and I found out._

_She's a big teaser, she took me half the way there._

_She's a big teaser, she took me half the way there, now!"_

Everyone looked a little confused at Brittany's choice of song, until they realized she was singing it directly at Santana, who looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"_Tried to please her, she only played one night stands._

_Tried to please her, she only played one night stands, now!"_

Brittany was many things but subtle was not one of them.

"Are they…together?" Sam asked Kurt quietly while Brittany performed.

"God knows," Kurt shrugged. "I always thought they were playing the whole girl on girl thing so they could get more guys. Maybe Santana feels that way. Apparently…Brittany does not."

"Thanks, Brit," said Mr. Shue as the song finished. "This is great, guys. I think you guys are really starting to break out of your boxes. Anyone else have something prepared for today?"

"We do, Mr. Shue," Quinn and Christine stood up.

"Take it away, guys," said Mr. Shue, giving them both an encouraging look. Everyone smiled sadly a bit when She's Leaving Home began to play. The two girls alternated verses, while Quinn sang the lead and Christine sang back up during the chorus.

"_Wednesday morning at five o'clock_

_as the day begins,_

_Silently closing her bedroom door,_

_Leaving the note that she hoped would say more,_

_She goes downstairs to the kitchen,_

_Clutching her handkerchief._

_Quietly turning the back door key,_

_Stepping outside she is free!_

_She (we gave her most of our lives)_

_is leaving (sacrificed most of our lives)_

_home (we gave her everything money could buy)_

_She's leaving home after living alone for_

_so many years (bye bye)."_

Sam grinned at his sister. He was so glad that the Quinn had taken the extra initiative to get to know Christine. He was really beginning to like Glee Club.

_Later that day…_

Sam sat in the Hummel-Hudson basement, laughing with Kurt. Kurt had put on some background music before getting to work on French, but it had proved to be more distracting than anything else and they had soon given up on studying. They had been talking and laughing for nearly an hour now. Sam was fairly impressed to learn that Kurt actually knew a fair bit about sports and Kurt was surprised to find out that Sam had a secret affinity for musical theater.

"_Love, love, love…"_

The music quietly filled the room.

"Oh! Turn it up. I love this song!" Sam exclaimed as he started to sing along.

"_There's nothing you can do that can't be done._

_Nothing you can sing that can't be sung._

_Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game._

_It's easy."_

Kurt laughed and countered by singing the next verse of the song.

"_There's nothing you can make that can't me made_

_No one you can save that can't be saved._

_Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time._

_It's easy!"_

"_All you need is love!_" sang Sam. The two who had been jokingly singing to each other and their faces were coming closer and closer. _"All you need is love! All you need is love!_"

"_Love is all you need_," Kurt sang. He was so close to the other boy, he could feel Sam's breath on his own face. Then suddenly, there was no more space between. Sam's lips met his own and Kurt's brain stopped functioning. It was a chaste kiss and it must have lasted no longer than a few seconds but Kurt could feel his heart falter and his stomach clench before Sam stumbled away from him.

"I…I have to g-go," Sam rushed to grab his things without looking at Kurt.

"Sam, wait—"

But Sam was already halfway up the stairs and pretended not to hear him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, ok, Kurt?" Sam didn't even spare a backwards glance before fleeing from the Hummel-Hudson residence, leaving Kurt alone in his basement with only the last few verses of the song as company.

"_All you need is love…"_

_Glee, the next day_…

"Alright, we'll have the last of our performances today," began Mr. Shue. "So, who wants to go first?"

Rachel, who to every one's surprise had not gone on the very first day, raised her hand. Kurt was just barely paying attention while she performed her own version of Here, There and Everywhere. She had changed all the 'she's' in the lyrics to 'he's' and as she was singing it directly at Finn, Kurt assumed that she had completely forgiven him for whatever mysterious Rachel Berry crime it was that he had committed in the first place. Kurt shook his head and told himself he wasn't going to burst into tears. Stupid heterosexual couples. Mercedes was shooting him strange looks. He hadn't told her about last night. He knew she was going to kill him the minute he finally did break down and tell her about the kiss, but for right now, he wasn't even sure how he felt about it. He didn't need someone else's opinion invading his brain and screwing things up.

Because the thing was…Kurt was no longer a kiss virgin. Sure, it hadn't been much but…it was all his. His very first kiss. With a boy, anyway. He didn't think that making out with Brittany had really counted. He had given up on having his first boy kiss until college. But there it was. And that was enough to make him incredibly, float on clouds happy…until he remembered the way Sam had run practically screaming from the room. But if you chopped off the ending, it was a perfectly wonderful, romantic first kiss. Complete with a love song playing in the background and everything!

But to add to that…he wasn't sure how he felt about Sam at all. Sure, he was attractive. There was no denying that. And he seemed nice enough. He had laughed at Kurt's jokes and flicked his hair out of his face in the most adorable way…but Kurt didn't really know him at all. Sam could have murdered someone at his old school for all Kurt knew. The Sam train of thought was starting to make his brain hurt so he tried to turn his attention back to Rachel, who was still singing with a lovesick look on her face to Finn. Kurt realized that this was the first time he hadn't wanted to throw up while witnessing one of their overtly couple-y moments. Did this mean he was finally getting over Finn? But if he was getting over Finn that could only mean that…no. _NO,_ he told himself firmly. _I do not like Sam Evans. I don't even KNOW the kid. God, can't I just go back to hating Rachel and pining after Finn in peace?_

Mercedes nudged him hard in the ribs and he realized that he must have been incredibly deep in thought because Rachel had finished her song and he hadn't even noticed. He clapped half heartedly as Sam stepped up to perform his own song.

"_When I find myself in times of trouble_

_Mother Mary comes to me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be._

_And in my hour of darkness_

_She is standing right in front of me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be._

_Let it be, let it be._

_Whisper words of wisdom, let it be."_

Everyone else swayed along, but Kurt wasn't sure if he should be offended or not. _What the hell?_ he thought. That song better not have been directed at him. If it was, he _so_ did not appreciate the sentiment.

"Alright, nice job, Sam," smiled Mr. Shue. "Mike and Santana spoke to me about their performance of A Hard Day's Night. It isn't quite ready yet because of some of the trickier choreography so I've granted them an extension. That just leaves…Kurt. You got something prepared for us?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Shue," Kurt hopped up from his seat. He hoped his smile seemed sincere. He was pretty good at putting on a brave face. He just had to avoid looking at Sam while he sang and he'd be golden. He glanced around the room, wondering if he should say something before he began but decided against it. His performance would speak for itself. At least, to the one person who mattered, anyway.

"_Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away,_

_Now it looks as though they're here to stay._

_Oh, I believe in yesterday._

_Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be._

_There's a shadow hanging over me._

_Oh, yesterday came suddenly."_

Kurt had done a marvelous job of not looking anywhere near Sam or his stupid haircut, but for the next few lines, he couldn't resist a glance in Sam's direction.

"_Why she had to go, I don't know, she wouldn't say._

_I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday."_

Sam had met his eyes for only a moment before glancing hastily away. Sam looked all around the room before realizing it would seem suspicious and/or rude if he wasn't looking at the person who was currently performing, so he settled for staring intently over Kurt's left shoulder.

"_Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play._

_Now I need a place to hide away._

_Oh, I believe in yesterday."_

"Great job this week. Everyone, it was really fantastic!" Mr. Shue beamed at them all and Kurt even managed to return the smile to him on the way back to his seat.

(**A/N**: Yes, it was very long and I added some random subplots that probably have no place in what is supposed to be a Kurt/Sam fic with Kurt/Finn brotherly bonding but…what do you think?)

**Songs referenced or quoted (in order of appearance):**

Yellow Submarine

Octopus' Garden

Yer Blues

Savoy Truffle

Revolution 9

Good Day Sunshine

I'm Only Sleeping

I Feel Fine

Why Don't We Do It In The Road?

Blackbird

Here Comes the Sun

She Loves You

We Can Work It Out

Good Morning, Good Morning

Love Me Do

I'm so Tired

Paperback Writer

Oh! Darling

Day Tripper

She's Leaving Home

All You Need Is Love

Here, There and Everywhere

Let It Be

A Hard Day's Night

Yesterday


	3. Sorry

(**A/N:** You guys are THE BEST. I mean it. I love you all dearly. I want to very sincerely thank everyone that has reviewed this work so far. I can't believe 91 people have put this story on their alerts list! It is unbelievable and I can't thank any of you enough! You've made my day!)

**Warnings:** F-bomb is dropped a few times and there are some other minor curses.

**A House Is Not A Home**

**Chapter 3- Sorry**

Thirty-three hours. Thirty-three hours since everything changed. Thirty-three hours since he had last spoken to Kurt. Thirty-three hours before he had kissed Kurt in the other boy's basement. It had been thirty-three hours since he had run out of the house and away from Kurt. Thirty-three hours since he first started sincerely wishing that he had never come to this school.

Sam Evans stared longingly at the back of one Kurt Hummel's head. He was desperately wishing the other boy would speak to him. Or even _look_ at him. Mr. Shue was prattling on about something that Sam couldn't have cared less about if he tried. Because why should he care about show tunes when Kurt was so steadily ignoring his existence?

Sam sighed, thinking for the millionth time that he shouldn't have sung that stupid song. Let It Be. What had he been thinking? Kurt had obviously taken in the wrong way. He hadn't thought it through. He hadn't thought Kurt would take it to mean he didn't _like_ him. He just wanted to say…'please don't be mad at me for running out of your house, I didn't mean it.' Apparently, he had not sung the song right because Kurt had taken it to mean 'Forget about the kiss, leave me alone.' And Kurt was happily complying with Sam's supposed request.

Christine began shooting him some weird looks. Not that he noticed. He was still staring at Kurt. After trying unsuccessfully to catch Sam's eye for a few moments, she elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Ow! Christine, _what_?" he hissed at his sister.

She simply raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kurt then Sam.

"Yeah…I may have done something stupid," he muttered.

"Tell me later?" she whispered to him.

"Of course," Sam replied, though he had no intention of doing any such thing. He was close with his sister. Really close. But this wasn't something he wanted to share with anyone. He hadn't ever told anyone about the other boys he had kissed and this would be no different.

Except somehow…it was different. Sam couldn't understand why. He just really like being in Glee Club. They were the first ones to really accept him here. He'd made it on to the football team, sure, but there had been hazing. And none of the other guys really liked him much yet. But Glee was different. When they had jammed with him while he sang Billionaire, he had had a really good time. He didn't want anything to mess that up. These people were the first really want to be his friends and they were thrilled to have him in the group. But they had been Kurt's friends first and Sam got the feeling these were fiercely loyal people. If they started noticing tension between the two, they'd probably side with Kurt. Especially if Kurt explained to them what had happened.

Oh god…he hadn't thought of that. What if Kurt told someone? Sam had never had that problem before. The other boys he had kissed were just as scared of telling someone as he was. But Kurt? Kurt was out loud and proud.

Shit. Sam Evans couldn't help but think that he was so totally screwed.

_Later that Day…_

"Hey, Sam, how are you doing?" Finn leaned against the locker next to Sam's.

"I'm alright," Sam barely had time to reply before Finn interrupted.

"Awesome, that's great," Finn clapped him on the back. "Look, I need your help with something, okay?"

Sam found himself being steered down the hallway by Finn's firm grasp. Jesus, that kid was strong…

"Um, okay then?" Sam really hoped this wasn't going to end in him being slushied. Somehow, every time Finn wanted him to do something, he ended up being slushied.

"Great!" Finn certainly did seem enthusiastic about whatever it was they were about to do.

"So…where are we going?" Sam wondered aloud.

"Well…you know how the football team's actually been kind of good lately?"

"Yeah…" Sam said slowly.

"We've got a game coming up in a couple weeks that's a pretty big deal. It's against one of the best teams in the state. We haven't won a game against them since 1952."

"You seem excited," Sam was more confused now than ever.

"OK…usually it's a complete disaster. Two years ago, half our team pretended to be sick just so they wouldn't have to show up to get their asses handed to them yet another year in a row," Finn's smile faded a bit at that. "And then last year, Coach Tanaka threatened to expel anyone who faked being sick to get out of the game…so half the team deliberately made themselves sick."

"And…this is a good thing?" Sam was struggling to see the Finn logic here.

"Yes! Don't you see? Usually we don't even try because we know we can't win. But now we've actually been winning games…maybe we've got a shot," Finn smiled like a maniac.

"OK…but if you want to plan out plays then don't you think we should wait until practice? You know, and include the rest of the team?"

"I don't want to plan out plays…well, I do, but that's not what we're doing right now."

"What are we doing right now?"

"We're improving our chances exponentially," Finn grinned.

Sam wasn't sure what that last word meant, and he wasn't sure Finn did, either. Sam was still so puzzled over the whole conversation that he didn't even realize who they were approaching until they were standing right in front of him.

Kurt raised an eyebrow at their approach.

"Yes?" He glanced them over and Sam could swear that his lip curled in disgust when Kurt looked at him, but it had only been for a second before Kurt's face was back to his regular cold, impassive look.

Finn was a little put off by that look. Now that he and Kurt were on better terms again, he was used to a much warmer greeting by the younger boy and he briefly wondered what he had done to anger Kurt this time but he trudged on with his plan anyway.

"Hey Kurt, how are you doing?" Finn smiled his most charming smile.

"…what did you break?" Kurt glared.

"Nothing!"

"I swear to god if it was valuable I will—"

"I didn't break anything, Kurt!"

"It's not my car, is it? Dear god, please don't let it be my baby!"

"Kurt! Will you shut up?"

"I'm sorry, Finn," Kurt shook his head. "But I've seen that look too many times not to be suspicious. It's the look you use when you want to butter someone up."

"…I don't know what that means…"

"Just…what do you want?" Kurt sighed. He had serious concerns about his stepbrother sometimes.

"I want you to rejoin the football team."

"HA!" Kurt's forced laugh was so loud several people in the hallway turned to stare. "Nice joke, Hudson. But I have class. I'll see you later."

"No, wait, seriously!" Finn ran after Kurt's retreating back, pulling a reluctant Sam with him.

"Finn, under no circumstances will I ever rejoin the football team," Kurt replied with a curt nod of his head, intending to end the conversation. Finn, however, would not be deterred.

"But we need you!" Finn whined.

"But _I_ don't need _football_," was Kurt's only reply, walking as fast as he could, hoping to lose the other boy in the confusion of the hallway.

"Kurt, I promise you its not going to be like it was last time," Finn insisted, managing to stay just behind Kurt while still dragging Sam along. "I'll keep the other guys off your back this time."

"You and what army?" Kurt snorted.

"Well…Puck and Mike," replied Finn to the back of Kurt's head. "And Sam!"

Kurt stopped short and turned around at that and Finn pulled Sam forward as physical evidence. Kurt glared at both of them.

"Finn, it's not that I don't trust you," Kurt said flatly. "But you promised to look out for me last time, too. And the other guys were not keen on having me on the team. Not even after we won our only game of the season."

"It'll be different this time, I swear," said Finn sincerely. "We really need you."

"What for? You've been winning games without me. You need me as much as a fish needs a bicycle."

"We need you so that we'll have a chance at beating Jefferson High."

Kurt raised his eyebrows so high they practically disappeared into his hair. "You think we have a chance of beating Jefferson? How delusional are you?"

"Only a little, I swear," Finn said earnestly. "I know it's a long shot, but you haven't seen the team this year! We've got a coach that's actually good and we've got some really great players. We need you to come back on a kicker. You've never missed a goal, not even in practice! If we've got you, they we really might have a shot."

Finn was about ready to get on his knees and beg. Sam was looking between the two brothers and wondering how many more surprises they would hold. Kurt had been on the football team? And he had actually been good?

Kurt's eyes softened for a minute when he looked at Finn. If they really needed him…

"Look, even if I wanted to join," Kurt finally shook his head. "I don't have the time. Between Glee and the Cheerios, I barely have time to sleep. I just can't do all three."

"Then drop the Cheerios!" Finn persisted.

"Finn, I _like_ the Cheerios. A lot more than I ever liked football."

"Don't give me that. You liked football. Remember how excited you were when we won? And the team lifted you up on their shoulders?" Finn smirked.

"…alright, so it was kind of fun sometimes. But I simply don't have time," Kurt shrugged. "I'll see you around, Finn…Sam." Kurt added Sam's name at the end with an unreadable expression.

Sam sighed as Kurt turned away from them. That could have gone better. At least Finn hadn't gotten him slushied this time.

"Hey, fairy!"

The shout came early enough for Kurt to duck out of the way of the frozen treat that was suddenly being hurled through the air, but Sam didn't react quickly enough. Just like that, he was covered in ice-cold purple goop.

Screw the world.

_Three minutes later, in the nearest boys' bathroom…_

Sam struggled with getting his head under the sink and still being able to use his hands to try and wash the slushie out. He wished Quinn were here. This was a lot easier with somewhere here to help.

"Oh just stop before you hurt yourself," a lilting voice commanded from the doorway. Sam recognized the voice and immediately tried to raise his head so he could see Kurt for himself but he hit his head on the faucet and then nearly fell over from the pain.

"Dear god, this is pathetic," Kurt walked over to him. "You just consider yourself lucky that Mrs. Goodman believed me when I said I needed to leave class because I had the sudden, uncontrollable need to vomit."

"…what?"

"I lied," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. The look of confusion on Sam's face was really kind of adorable and Kurt found that infinitely irritating. "That slushie was meant for me, you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I felt bad. Thought I could help you clean up."

Nothing about Kurt's voice conveyed any emotion whatsoever. He spoke of the matter with complete indifference.

"Er…thanks," said Sam. "I…I'm not really good at this whole….de-slushying myself thing."

"…articulate as always, Mr. Evans," Kurt raised one eyebrow.

"What?"

"Just sit down here, I'll wash the slushie out of your hair," Kurt pulled the chair that was conveniently located in the bathroom over to one of the sinks. Sam wondered if all the bathrooms here had chairs for this specific purpose.

"Hm…grape flavored. That's one of the worst. It's a nightmare, trying to get it out of clothing," Kurt seemed to be speaking more to himself than Sam while he assessed the damage done to Sam's clothes and then eventually started gently washing his hair. "Then again, maybe purple is your color…"

Sam closed his eyes and allowed himself to breathe in the wonderful scent that seemed to go wherever Kurt went. Kurt started humming to himself and eventually started mumbling some lyrics under his breath.

"_Start wearing purple, wearing purple._

_Start wearing purple for me now._

_All your sanity and wits they will all vanish,_

_I promise, it's just a matter of time…"_

Kurt trailed off and Sam found himself very disappointed.

"Don't stop," he muttered before he even thought about what he was saying.

Kurt's hand paused in their work of freeing Sam's hair from the sticky substance.

"Sam," Kurt sighed his name and Sam almost cried. Kurt's voice was just a little breathy and very sad. Sam held his eyes shut tight, refusing to look at the boy above him.

"Sam," Kurt's voice was firmer and more demanding this time. Still, Sam tried to ignore him.

"Sam, look at me."

Sam found he could not disobey that direct command. They stared into each other's eyes for a minute before they both tried to speak at the exact same time.

"It's not that I didn't want to kiss you—"

"I understand that you're a little freaked out—

"—obviously I wanted to or I wouldn't have—"

"—still no excuse for treating me the way you have—"

"—I mean, I like you—"

"—and that's not to say that I didn't _enjoy_ the kiss—"

"—should have apologized sooner but you wouldn't even _look_ at me—"

"—and then you just _ran away_—"

Both boys were speaking at the same time, simultaneously unloading the weight of what had happened. Their words echoed off each other and the tiles of the bathroom, making all that was said nearly impossible to understand. Not that either one was paying much attention to the other anyway.

"—and it wasn't like any other kiss I've ever had with another boy!" Sam finally concluded while Kurt ended with "—and Finn probably knows I like you which is why he brought you over to convince me to join to football team."

"Wait, you've kissed other boys?" Kurt asked at the exact same time as Sam said, "Wait, Finn knows you like me? Wait…you like me?"

There was an awkward pause when both boys opened their mouths at the same time, saw the other was about to say something and quickly shut their mouths again. This happened several times before Kurt finally broke the silence.

"We're really bad at this," he commented lightly.

"I'm really sorry about what happened," Sam said, willing Kurt to believe he hadn't meant to hurt him.

Kurt went back to washing Sam's hair, carefully avoiding his eyes before saying in a very small voice, "Sorry you kissed me or sorry you ran away?"

"The second one, definitely the second one," Sam said. "I could never be sorry that I kissed you." Sam studied Kurt's face even though Kurt was still intent on staring at nothing but Sam's hair. Kurt was biting his lip and he looked near tears.

"Look…what I said about kissing other boys before…"

"Yes?" Kurt's voice cracked.

"I went to an all boy's boarding school," Sam said in a rush, as if it would be better that way. "We got bored. Things happened. But I never really felt…I mean, I always thought I was straight and I was just kissing other guys because they were my only option."

"Right," Kurt said shortly.

"But I think I might like you," Sam said breathlessly.

"You think you might like me?" Kurt was honestly not sure how he was supposed to feel about such a wishy-washy declaration of affection.

"I'm not like you, Kurt," Sam said and Kurt inhaled sharply. Though it was entirely unintentional, Sam had just uttered exactly what Finn had said to Kurt all those months ago and it immediately put Kurt in a defensive mode. Sam, however, continued a bit differently than Finn had. "I'm not…I don't know who I am. You're so sure of who you are all the time…I've got no clue. I think I like you but…I don't know. Not for sure."

"And what do you suppose we should do about that predicament?" The cold edge in Kurt's voice was returning.

"I just…need some time, okay?" Sam.

"Fine, Sam, take all the time you want. But don't expect me to wait forever," Kurt's voice was drenched in bitterness. His hands left Sam's head as he turned the water from the sink off and turned to walk away.

"Are you ever going to look at me again?" Sam asked Kurt's retreating back.

Kurt paused right before the door but then he walked out of the bathroom with ever turning around.

_After school, in the Evansmobile…_

Sam waited as long as it was necessary for Christine to get safely in the car before pulling away from McKinley High as quickly as he could, his hands itching on the steering wheel and his ipod blasting.

"_Some stupid chick in the checkout line_

_was paying for beer with nickels and dimes_

_and some old man who clipped coupons_

_had argued whenever they wouldn't take one._

_All I wanted to do was buy some cigarettes_

_but I couldn't take it anymore so I left."_

As soon as Christine registered the first verse of the song that was playing, she knew her brother was not going to be in anything that would be described as a good mood.

"…want to talk about it?" she offered.

"No…yes…no," Sam was irritably shaking his hair out of his eyes.

"Why are there large purple stains all over your clothes?" she asked quietly.

"Slushie," he said simply.

"Sam, I think you're driving in the wrong direction," she said as gently as she could.

"I'm not!" he practically shouted, before realizing that she was right. "Aw, fuck." He then turned the car around in a very abrupt and incredibly illegal U-turn that left many angry honks in their wake.

"Sam, why don't you pull over and let me drive?" Christine was now gripping the dashboard, eyes wide.

"No! Why should I?"

"Because you're scaring the crap out of me!" Christine shouted as the car went up on the curb when Sam tried to make a left turn.

This outburst seemed to snap Sam out of his mood a little and he shifted guiltily.

"Sorry, Chrissy, it won't happen again," he mumbled.

"Just…just pull over and let me drive, ok?"

"Fine…just…fine," he grumbled and complied.

Christine got behind the wheel and immediately turned the music down and pulled away from the curb in the most cautious way possible.

"_All the people on the street, I hate you all,_

_and the people that I meet, I hate you all,_

_and the people that I know, I hate you all,_

_and the people that I don't, I hate you all._

_Oh, I hate you all."_

The music continued and Christine shook her head. This was one hell of a mood her brother was in.

"You shouldn't be driving," Sam said suddenly. "You don't have your license yet. You don't even have your permit."

"You taught me how to drive last year so I'd always be able to get somewhere in case of an emergency," she replied.

"You're fifteen. I shouldn't be letting you drive. What if we get pulled over?"

"We're far more likely to get pulled over with you driving than with me."

"Fine, whatever."

"What's got into you today? I've never seen you like this."

"I just…had a bad day. Guys on the football team and stuff," he muttered without much conviction.

"You have to stop caring about what those guys think," she said. "They don't like you because you won't bully other people. You're too nice of a guy to ever get along with them so you should stop trying to get their approval."

"It's easy for you to say," he snapped. "You don't have to play on the same team as them."

"I'm not saying start fights with them," she said. "I know you don't want to give up football. But you don't have to care about them off the field. You've got friends. You've got Glee."

"Yeah, whatever."

"God, you're bitchy today," she said it lightly, trying to tease him into a better mood. "What, are you PMSing or something? You know what I think? I think you've got a crush!"

Sam grunted and turned away.

"No denial!" she cried gleefully. She didn't really believe he had a crush on anyone, but he had stopped shouting at her so she figured teasing him was working him out of his funk. "Alright, homegirl, so whose the lucky guy?"

"Don't ever use the phrase 'homegirl' again, even if you are joking…and it's not a guy!" he added indignantly at the end.

"Wait…" she said, perplexed. "I was just kidding…but there really is someone? Who is she?"

"Wait…no, I mean…no. There's…there's no one, I don't even like girls. I mean…I like girls. I just don't like anyone. I mean, I like people…I just don't like…no, there's no one."

As Christine pulled into the driveway, she gave her stuttering brother a wicked grin.

"Ah! The source of your bad mood discovered!" she sighed happily.

"_And the people in the west, I hate you all,_

_and the people I like best, I hate you all._

_Oh, I hate you all."_

"Shut the hell up, Chrissy," Sam muttered half-heartedly while his sister continued to grin and pester him all the way into the house.

_The next day…_

Sam sat in study hall next to Finn, going over his French homework and desperately wishing he hadn't pissed off the one person who had been willing to tutor him. He was concentrating so hard he almost shouted in surprise when a note hit him in the back of the head. Picking it up, he looked around as to who could have thrown it, but everyone around him seemed to be intently working. Odd.

Finn was apparently busy trying to remember what FOIL stood for because he was muttering about it under his breath. He seemed so absorbed in his work; Sam figured it was probably useless to ask him if he'd seen who had thrown the note. One way to find out, then. Sam slowly opened the note to see what it said.

_Hey, Bieber Cut. _

_You, me, Brit._

_Breadstix. 7 tonight._

_You pay._

Sam stared at the note, trying as hard as he could to understand its contents.

"You alright, man?" Finn whispered to him. Sam quickly slipped the note under his French homework and nodded.

"Yeah, fine," he replied. "It's just this stupid language, you know?"

"I thought Kurt was helping you out with that?" Finn asked.

"Erm…well I think I may have pissed him off a bit, actually," Sam admitted.

"Oh, has he been really bitchy to you, too, lately?" Finn asked. "Yeah, I don't know what's up with him but he has _not_ been pleasant. I'll talk to him, don't worry."

"You don't have to do that, I'm fine," Sam said hurriedly.

"No," Finn said firmly. "You're my boy and Kurt's been acting way out of line lately. It's not your fault."

"I don't want you to get into a fight with him or anything…" Sam was desperate for Finn to not try and persuade Kurt to go back to tutoring him. As much as he needed the help academically, he didn't want to upset Kurt any more than he already was.

"Yeah…he threw a lamp at my head last night because I said that I didn't see what the big deal was about Madonna," Finn shook his head. "Trust me, my lovely brother and I are way passed the 'not fighting' point. I'll work it out. Gotta make sure you stay academically eligible, don't I?"

Mr. Stephens chose that moment to chide both of them for their whispered conversation and so Sam did not have another opportunity to protest.

_Later, in the hallway…_

Someone slammed Sam's locker shut just has he was about to put away his French textbook.

"Hey, Bieber Cut," Santana Lopez's no nonsense voice cut into his thought of 'what the hell just happened?'

"…Santana," he replied, slowly realizing she was the one that had hit him with the note and wondering what she possibly could have meant by it.

"You'll be there, right?" she said forcefully.

"Be…where?"

"God, you're slow," she rolled her eyes. "Breadstix. With me and Brit."

"I thought you said I have no game?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Listen, botox lips, you are possibly the least charming person I've ever met. I mean it. Sometimes you're so awkward, it makes me want to die of second hand embarrassment," she tossed her hair. "But Brit thinks you're cute, for god knows what reason, and I'm trying to make it up to her, ok?"

"Um…okay?"

"Good. Don't be late. And don't forget your wallet," she turned to walk away but was interrupted by his voice.

"Um…I'm sorry, but…are we going on some kind of date or something?"

She turned back around only long enough to roll her eyes and mouth "oh my god" before tossing her hair again and leaving Sam standing there, still a little confused about what had just happened.

_That afternoon, in the library…_

"No, Finn. I won't do it."

"Come _on_, Kurt. Stop being so difficult."

"Just butt out!"

"We need him for Sectionals!"

"_I don't care!"_

Sam wondered idly if Finn and Kurt knew he could hear them. He figured they didn't and they would probably even be pretty embarrassed to learn that he was listening in on them. He was working by himself at a table in the corner and the two brothers were having a whispered argument behind a stack of books rather close by. Sam could hear every word.

"God, what is up with you lately, Kurt?"

"None of your business!"

"Fine, don't tell me, but don't take out your issues on Sam! He's a good guy and we need him to compete."

"I don't care."

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? This is Glee we're talking about! Since when do you not care about Glee?"

"Since whenever."

"Just go over there and help him. Really. He needs your help and I thought you two were friends!"

"You thought wrong!"

Now that one stung. Sam shifted uncomfortably and wondered if they were wrapped up in their own conversation enough that they wouldn't notice him sneaking out of the library.

"Fine, if you won't do it for him or for Glee…will you at least do it for me?"

Sam thought that was an awfully strange way for Finn to word that request. There was silence for a minute.

"God, fine, you know what? If you're going to be such a jerk about it, I'll do it if it'll shut you the hell up."

A few seconds later Kurt stormed angrily over to the table Sam was working at and slammed his books down so loudly it garnered one wicked glare from the librarian. Finn stayed behind the stack of books, unsuccessfully trying to remain inconspicuous and spy on the two other boys to make sure everything went alright. Kurt stared directly at Finn, made an impatient noise in the back of his throat and started tapping his foot, pointedly jerking his head in the direction of the door. Finn reluctantly left and Sam's only thought was that at least the librarian was still there to witness his murder.

"Listen up, Evans," Kurt snapped, finally taking a seat at the table. "I'm only here because of Finn. This in no way should make you think I've forgiven you."

"I would never think that," Sam said, eyes wide and body completely still. He wasn't sure why, but he was suddenly incredibly afraid of making sudden movements.

"Also, I'm supposed to apologize to you for, and I quote, 'going all bitch-crazy' on you," Kurt snorted.

"Do you always do everything your older brother tells you to?" Sam knew this probably wasn't the wisest thing to say, but he couldn't help it.

"Shut up," Kurt snapped and Sam thought it was odd that Finn was such a sensitive subject for Kurt. They were just brothers, right?

"Right…anyway, you don't have to stay," Sam said. "I know you don't want to."

"I know about your date with Santana and Brittany," Kurt said bluntly.

_Damn_, Sam thought, _news travels fast here…_

"You got anything to say about that?" Kurt asked him.

"No, no I don't," Sam said, annoyed. It wasn't like he and Kurt were dating. What right did he have to be pissed about him going out with someone else? And how did he even know, anyway? Had he been gossiping with the girls about him?

"Then I'll be going," Kurt said, collecting his books. "You'll tell Finn I helped, right?"

"Yeah, not that I understand why you care so much about what he thinks, but yeah. I'll tell him you're a real pal," Sam bit back.

"Santana and Brittany are just playing you. I hope you know that," Kurt said coldly.

"What would you know about it?" hissed Sam.

"It's what they always do," Kurt said. "Brittany has a record to keep."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Brittany's made out with almost everyone in school, boys and girls. Even one of the janitors," Kurt said. "She only wants you to take her out because she's got a rep to protect."

Sam didn't know if this was true or not but it wouldn't surprise him. Still, he had the sudden urge to win this fight at any cost.

"What would you know about girls, anyway?" Sam shot back. "You're the queerest person I've ever met. What would you know about why Brittany asked me out?"

"This is what Brit and Santana do. The entire school knows it. It's their thing. They don't care about you. Brit just wants a perfect record and Santana just wants a free meal at Breadstix."

Sam just barely registered the fact that Kurt even knew what restaurant Santana had asked him to go to…they really must do this a lot.

"So? I get to take out two hot girls and if what you're saying is true then I'll be guaranteed in making out with at least one of them," Sam hissed. "Maybe I don't care if they're playing me. Maybe it's exactly what I want."

"You're disgusting," and with that, Kurt slung his bag over his shoulder and stalked out of the library.

Sam sat there for a moment, then quickly started to gather all of his things together. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't let Kurt have the last word on this. He left the library as quick as he could but Kurt was nowhere in sight when he reached the hallway. Sam thought for a minute. Kurt couldn't go home yet, because that would mean running into Finn who would then know that Kurt hadn't really been tutoring Sam. Kurt might just drive around in his car for a while, in which case Sam had little to no hope of finding him…but there was somewhere else in the school Kurt was much more likely to go to blow of some steam and waste some time before leaving.

As Sam approached the choir room, he heard music. He wasn't close enough yet to tell if it was Kurt or not, but at least he knew someone was in there. Even if it wasn't Kurt, maybe it was someone he could talk to…

"_You said you wanted more than I could bring, _

_more than birds can sing._

_You said you needed time to find yourself _

_but you found someone else."_

Nope, that voice was definitely Kurt's. And he sounded pissed.

"_You said I was your one and only,_

_You said with me that you'd never be lonely_

_and I drank in every lie._

_I am sorry... I am sorry._

_So here I'm apologizing _

_but one question keeps on rising,_

_Why? Why?"_

Sam stood frozen at the door as he watched Kurt belt out the song. So much frustration and anger all pouring out. He had never seen him like this before. Kurt usually sang such…pretty songs. Kurt's voice was always high and angelic, smooth and just…pretty. The way he was singing this was anything but pretty.

"_We've built this tower. You built the steps of sand._

_You don't care where I land._

_You're holding someone else's hand."_

Sam had intended to yell at Kurt when he found him. He had wanted to shout at him that Kurt had no right to expect anything from him, Sam had told him as much. He wanted to shout that this was his life, not Kurt's and if he wanted to go on a million dates with Santana and Brittany then it was absolutely none of Kurt's business and he could go fuck himself.

But instead, Sam turned away. He could still hear the echoes of Kurt's song as he walked down the hallway. He knew he was an awkward person. Everyone he'd ever met had told him that. But he always thought there were worse things he could be. He had never thought of himself as a bad person. But he couldn't help but feel as though he had broken Kurt's heart. He had kissed him, then ran away, then told him he might like him then agreed to go on a date with not one other person but two. Maybe he had strung Kurt along. And if he had, he knew that made him one of the worst kinds of people. Sam wondered, not for the first time, what the fuck he was doing with his life, anyway.

"_You said I was you're one and only._

_You said with me that you'd never be lonely_

_and I drank in every lie._

_I am sorry... I am sorry._

_Here I'm apologizing_

_but one question keeps on rising._

_Why... tell me why."_

**Songs (in order of appearance):**

Start Wearing Purple by Gogol Bordello

I Hate Everyone by Get Set Go

I'm Sorry by Beecake

(**A/N**: Let me know how I'm doing with Sam. He turned out to be a completely different character than I thought he was going to be based on the pilot. Now I'm trying to write him more like the character we've been seeing recently but I don't think I'm succeeding.)


End file.
